Better late than never I suppose. Each year we try to get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and decorate it before the weekend is out. That way the tree is up the entire month of December; only coming down after we celebrate the New Year. This year because of schedules and other factors we got our tree late. Kelli was able to get lights on the tree, but the annual ritual of donning the tree with decorations kept being put off. Last night we were finally able to gather the kids and adorn its branches with everything from this year’s addition (more on that in a moment) to ornaments made by the kids in kindergarten (that only a mother could love). When it was over the tree was awesome; not so much how beautiful it looked (although it did look amazing!) but because of what it represented to Kelli and me. It is our twenty eighth Christmas together. Those decorations pay tribute to years of journeying together in our marriage, in our parenting, and in our life as a family.

One tradition we have tried to follow with our tree maybe shouldn’t be called a tradition since we’ve missed several years. But it’s significant enough that I will mention it. Almost every year one of the gifts we have bought our family is an ornament. It started early in our marriage when we were shopping. I’m a sap when it comes to Christmas. I’m a marketer’s best friend because I want everything that says Christmas( thank you Dave Ramsey for giving me some tools to control that part of me.) But back to the story – we saw one of those cool moving ornaments at Hallmark. It had a little train that went round and round. That particular year I had just taken a train ride with our two oldest kids Alyse and Krista. They were very young (I’ll tell you some stories from that trip another time!). A train ride? No big deal right? This one was 36 hours from Centralia, Washington to Denver, CO to visit Kelli’s folks. I rode the train round trip with a different daughter each way while Kelli flew with baby Tavita and the other daughter (again, more later). So this ornament seemed a fun way to memorialize the trip. The ornament has long since stopped working – we even tried to send it in to get fixed. But it still reminds us of Christmas 1987. We started looking for one moving ornament each year. Many of them corresponded with significant events from the year they were acquired; others had general meaning to our family, and others we just liked. Some years we struggled to find something that worked and ended up skipping them. But our tree is full of moving cars, Winnie the Pooh, a kissing Santa (although we’ve lost Mrs. Claus that he’s supposed to kiss) and football stadiums complete with moving players. Interspersed amongst our motion filled ornaments are hanging fond memories of school Christmas projects, gifts, and other smatterings of stories and love.

 

Everyone adds their touch to the tree!

This year was particularly hard to coordinate all our schedules. We came close on several occasions to just giving up and finishing the job ourselves. But if I have any advice this Christmas to those reading my words, don’t give up. I actually had to send out a text to schedule our decorating event for 9pm on Sunday night! And we were still competing against other things – like Christmas parties and movies with friends. Because of the timing, one of my kids had a bad attitude leading up to our occasion. In the end EVERYONE was glad to be there and we ALL had a wonderful time of laughing with some singing,dancing   and pictures mixed in! It’s hard to stick to things like decorating the tree together, especially as your kids get older. Maybe you’ve heard it in your home, “dad, really, do we have to do this tonight – I have to go to …” Do what you can to make these traditions fun – bring in food, or snacks, play fun Christmas music, be willing to get out of your comfort zone if need be. Do whatever it takes, but don’t lose heart! Work hard to establish traditions when they are young and then keep your resolve as they get older. Someday they will be married and gone and wishing they were back sharing in those rituals they once mocked!